I smear you, you smear me
by Ahai
Summary: Things don t go quite according to plan when Tintin and Haddock go for a vacation...


This was not planned. Tintin finally took a break and stayed in a warm foreign place with Milou and Haddock. He loved travelling and going for adventures but even he could use a break and rest for a while, but not for too long. But the idea of relaxing was now spoiled hence he was now in pain. Nothing serious happened and this was a common thing to happen for light skinned tourists. But this rarely happened, he had been around in different places of the world! But then again, he rarely laid still for long unlike the day before.

Tintin wearily and stiffly got off the bed in the hotel room he was staying in and went towards the mirror nearby. He didn't look at his reflection right away, he turned around to get himself together first. He looked at Milou nervously. The dog sat in the middle of the bed and looked back at his owner confusedly.

"Does this look bad? If it does, then it`s not too bad. Right?"

Milou tilted his head slightly to the side and whimpered. Tintin closed his eyes and turned around to face the mirror showing him his abdomen. One… two… three!

At three he opened his eyes and somehow regretted doing so. His shoulders and clavicle were bright red! The sunburn felt even more painful just to look at it!

"Milou, what am I going to do?! I told Captain we were going out sightseeing today, but I can`t move properly! What am I– "

Someone lightly knocked on the door and it opened.

"Ahoy landlubber! Are you ready to- "

Haddock walked in and immediately stopped when he saw Tintin.

"Blistering barnacles, what happened to you?!"

Tintin wanted to cover his shoulders with his hands but prevented of doing so hence lifting his arms and touching the burned shoulders would really hurt. He took a deep breath, trying to look unaffected.

"It`s nothing serious, Captain. It`s just a little sunburn…" Tintin knew he couldn't convince Haddock, even his shoulders could call him a liar.

"This is no mild sunburn, Tintin! How did this happen?"

Haddock`s face almost turned as red as Tintin`s shoulders. Tintin sat down on the edge of the bed and Haddock sat down next to him listening to what Tintin had to say.

"Yesterday the sun was hotter than usual and after my hike I went down by the pool and I fell asleep in a deckchair."

Tintin expected Haddock to fire up and yell at him for being careless but to his surprise, he didn't. If fact, the red colour of his face faded away. Haddock got up.

"Do you have some aloe? I`ll smear some on you"

It baffled Tintin how Haddock was so unusually calm.

"Yeah… there is a bottle on the top shelf over there" Tintin pointed towards where the shelfs were.

It was no trouble for Haddock to get it, he was slightly taller than Tintin after all. As he walked towards Tintin, he shook the bottle and sat down on the bed with Tintin`s back facing him. He squirted a slight amount of aloe in his hands.

"Okay, I will be as gentle as possible …"

Tintin braced himself. He knew his friend would go gentle if he said he would, but Haddock didn't exactly have the most delicate and softest hands. He was ready to let out a yelp, but it never came. The minute Haddock put his aloe coated hands on his shoulders, Tintin sank them down. The way Haddock gently stroked on the burned area felt like a lullaby for his shoulders.

"Is this alright, Tintin?" Haddock asked.

"More than alright, Captain" Tintin said in a sigh "Could you smear my neck as well? It stings there too"

Haddock squirted another amount of aloe in his hands and stroke all over the redness on Tintin`s neck. Said lad closed his eyes and tilted his head forward, his shoulders and neck no longer feeling so painful. He hummed while the captain smeared.

When Haddock withdrew his hands, Tintin opened his eyes and, to his amazement, lifted his arms up in the air and stretched without trouble.

"Seems like you feel better" Haddock said while he rubbed off aloe from his hands on his pullover.

"I feel a lot better. Thank you, Captain!"

Tintin was very happy. He thought he wouldn't be able to move his arms for days, but now he practically felt cured. He threw his arms around Haddock.

"Ow!" Haddock almost pushed Tintin off the bed.

"

Pain appeared like a shot. Haddock was quick to grab Tintin`s hands so he could prevent his friend from falling. Milou practically jumped from the bed.

"Captain, what`s was that for?!" Tintin asked astonished.

Haddock sighed.

"I`m sorry, I didn`t mean to do that"

"Is something wrong?" Tintin asked worried.

Haddock didn't want to say anything, but he had to tell Tintin. He was a man with a fierce temper and sometimes he did do crazy things out of the blue, but he never pushed anyone so fiercely, especially not Tintin.

"Well, you are not the only one with a sunburn…"

Haddock grabbed the hem of his pullover and slowly pulled it up. It was a painful struggle but when it was off, his body was soaked in sweat.

"Why are you wearing that shirt, Captain? It`s 30 degrees Celsius!"

Haddock wiped some sweat off his chest and turned his back to Tintin. His entire back, from the shoulder blades to the tailbone, was red as a boiled lobster! With that Tintin got up and walked away. At first Haddock thought Tintin went because the sight was "too much" for him, but Tintin came back with a towel in his hand.

"Lie down, Captain" Tintin said as he held out the towel.

Milou jumped off and Haddock laid down on his tummy.

"I`ll put aloe on you, but the sweat must come off first" Tintin placed the towel on Haddock`s back.

It made Haddock moan, the towel was soaked with cool water! It didn't cover his entire back, but it covered the sweaty areas.

After about 10 minutes time, Tintin took off the towel. The towel was no longer cool, but Haddock was no longer sweaty, and his back wasn't inflamed anymore either. Opposite of how Haddock put aloe in his hands first, Tintin squirted right on the sunburn. Haddock yelped.

"You can tell me how YOU got sunburned" Tintin started to spread the aloe around.

Haddock didn't say anything at first, he took his time enjoying Tintin smearing his back. The way Tintin`s hands went up and down, from the sides till the middle and his fingers ghosting almost made Haddock shiver.

"You said yesterday was hotter than usual, right?" Haddock finally spoke" While you went for your hike, I went to a harbour nearby to check out boats"

"How did you get sunburned by that?"

"Well, since it was very hot I went around shirtless. Some boats intrigued me enough to make me stand still for a while and watch, with my back to the sun "

While Tintin smeared, Haddock began to tremble. The room had a good indoor temperature, so Haddock couldn't possibly feel cold.

"What`s wrong, Captain? Does it hurt?" Tintin asked in a worried tone.

Haddock shook his head. He had his face to the mattress and he let out some muffled sounds. Tintin tried to make Haddock turn his head, but the latter resisted.

"You worry me, please turn so you won`t suffocate yourself!" Tintin began shaking him.

The need for air got to Haddock, he eventually gave in as he suddenly turned and gasped for air. The mattress was stained with sweat and saliva… and tears.

"Captain…?"

When Haddock got enough air, he sobbed.

"Don't worry, its just the whisky getting to me" Haddock said as he wiped his eyes.

Whisky? Haddock promised he wouldn't drink alcohol while they were on vacation.

"When did you drink whisky?" Tintin asked in a serious tone.

"In the middle of the night yesterday. The skin on my back was killing me and I couldn't sleep. I tried to sleep on my tummy, but I woke up every time I turned in my sleep and the air in my room was hot and unbreathable."

Haddock slowly got up in a sitting position and sat "face-to-face" with Tintin. The sobbing had decreased but his eyes still poured like rivers.

"I was going crazy by this and I went down the hotel bar and got myself some whiskey. I`m sorry, Tintin…"

Usually Tintin would get angry when Haddock drank alcohol when he promised he wouldn't, but he wasn't now. The first time Tintin met Haddock was when he was kidnapped in a drug exporting ship, Haddock`s ship. Tintin also saw Haddock break down in tears, it was the time Haddock`s alcoholism was at its worst. How much whisky did he drink that night? Also, Tintin didn't sleep very well himself either and Haddock had his entire back sunburned! With sleep deprivation in a room with stuffy air and sunburn of a big area of the body, relapses are bound to happen.

"Oh, Captain…" Tintin gently put his arms around Haddock "my Captain…"

Tintin did his best to place his hands lightly on Haddock`s back so he wouldn't aggravate the sunburn and only Haddock`s beard touched Tintin`s shoulders before he placed his face to Tintin`s chest.

Tintin sat on the bed with Haddock on him for a long time. Oddly enough the situation didn't feel awkward for either of them, it all felt contented.

"We have been bound, drugged, beaten and shot by scoundrels and we got back on our feet right away… The sun defeated us without doing these things" Haddock broke the long-varied silence.

Haddock sounded unusually calm considering he brought up the negative outcomes from their adventures. His speech and posture had gotten sloppy and he still had his head to Tintin`s chest similarly the way people had their heads to a pillow.

"Yes, I haven't gotten sunburned since I was a kid! Did you experience this much when you sailed around the sea?"

Tintin didn't get any answer.

"…Captain?"

Tintin looked down on his chest. Haddock had fallen asleep! It was incredible how someone fell asleep within seconds and how a big man with a full beard looked to innocent in his sleep, almost like a child.

Tintin wanted to put Haddock down on the bed but that proved to be difficult hence it was too heavy to get him off. Tintin carefully laid down with Haddock on him and with that he realized he felt tired as well. By time drowsiness fell upon Tintin as he heard Haddock`s light snores and witnessed the man's shoulders slowly rise and fall. Oh, so slowly… up… and down…

"

 _Tintin?_

 _A faded voice called for him. Who could that be?_

 _Tintin?_

 _Where was he anyway? The surroundings kept changing, the forms and the colours. So many different scenarios… It got darker, why was it getting darker? Everything was disappearing, what is g-_

Tintin shot his eyes open, the first thing he saw was Haddock being over him. Tintin was confused at first but then it came to him he fell asleep.

"Hi, Captain. Are you awake?" Tintin said as he rubbed his eyes.

Haddock slowly got up from Tintin and sat down to make it easier for Tintin to get up.

"Yes, I feel a lot better now"

Tintin had a red spot on his chest, that was where Haddock had his head while sleeping.

"How long have we slept?" Tintin asked, sitting halfway up.

Haddock shrugged and looked out the window.

"Not sure, but judging by the sunset I would say it`s been for some hours"

Normally Tintin hated missing an opportunity doing daily activities but then again, he was on vacation and should spend some time to just relax more. If he couldn't relax for his own sake, he could the very least stay so Haddock could relax. The man kept his sunburn and drinking a secret in fear of ruining the vacation! Tintin knew Haddock drank as an attempt to ease the pain, it was a bad idea but that didn't matter.

"I`m sorry, Tintin. You wanted to go for sightseeing and then I- "

Tintin circled his arms around Haddock`s neck before he could finish his sentence. Haddock was surprised by this.

"What is that for?" Haddock asked astonished.

"You are such a good friend" Tintin said.

Haddock returned the hug, circling his arms around Tintin. He could have asked Tintin why on earth he thought he was a good friend but then again Tintin knew things he didn't know. Tintin and Haddock didn't do everything together always, but one could never be sure of what dangerous and reckless situations Tintin got himself into, Haddock wouldn't dare letting Tintin go out on his own. He had been lucky on all the journeys so far, but one could never know if something horrid would happen eventually. Haddock let go of Tintin, thus breaking the hug.

"You know, since our sunburns has cooled down, there is no sun outside now and we feel rested after this "nap", why not go out for an evening stroll?" Haddock suggested.

Tintin`s face lit up with a smile.

"Capital idea, Captain! I have always felt so tired after my hikes and trips, I never given it a thought to see what it`s like to be outside in the evening"

It was a win-win; Haddock got to go with Tintin on an easy stroll (at least that's what he hoped for), Tintin got to go out for a trip and they both had their sunburned skin under control. Before going they put on more aloe just to be on the safe side and put on a shirt, Haddock went to his room to find something lighter than his usual pullover.

"Ready to go, laddie?" Haddock opened the door of Tintin`s hotel room.

"Ready as I can be, Captain! Come on, Milou"

Milou got up after his own nap on the floor. He went along with the two, frowning at them as they went in the hallway.

 _Don't you humans put on the thing you call sunscreen? I don't want to sleep on the floor again!_


End file.
